Firenze: Guide plan for the formulation of the landscape programmes provided for the 'Piano Territoriale di Coordinamento' of the Province of Florence

Chianti landscape programme

The Chianti landscape programme has been carried out between 15th March 1997 and 6th November 1998.The Chianti landscape programme: - Provides a methodological pattern for the formulation of the other landscape programme provided for the PTCP - Provides the public administrations, the interested operators and the citizens with information, proposals, addresses and projects, to be translated into operative policies and into short and medium term actions.

The Provincia of Florence carried out a first, experimental, landscape programme in Chianti, because here transformation actions happened and are taking place now, guided overall by the trend of the viticulture and wine market and by financial incentives not co-ordinated between them. It is useless, moreover, to underline the extraordinary cultural and economic value of the Chianti landscape.A first result of the research is the following. In the examined area, about 230 kmq, are still located 1300 hectares of métayage landscape, less than 6% of the whole surface. This surface is divided in 13 areas, variables from 40 to 160 hectares. That means that in the Florentine Chianti it is still possible to recover some historical landscape, a quantity that we can compare to the dimensions of a traditional farm. So we can, if we want, deliver to the next generations only some pieces of historical landscape - built between the XIII Th century and the beginning of this century - that are witness of the métayage culture and civilisation. If we don't stop rapidly this process these last witnesses will be lost, as it's evident from the transformations that are happening at this moment.The loss would be priceless by the historical and cultural point of view, but it would be serious also for the environmental and economical aspects, as it is shown by the research. From this first issue three questions rise: a) how much does it cost to save the remaining of the historical landscape b) with which benefits c) by which instruments.

Regarding the first question, the research shows that the greatest part of the costs for the protection of the zones of historical landscape are for the restoration of the traditional hydraulic and agrarian arrangements.In these areas are still located about 150 km of dry-stone walls, more than 40 km. of embankments and some kilometres of traditional drains (acquidocci) with variable state of maintenance, but at least the 60-70% of these in precarious state or falling down. The esteemed cost for the restoration of the dry-stone walls and the drains (whose incidence is however smaller than the former class) in the areas of historical landscape is about 12 millions of Euro, with an average incidence of 9.000 E. for hectare.This amount varies a lot according to the situations, in some cases it can be very high, more than 50.000 E. for hectare.Amounts so high can cause the carelessness of the critical areas, while for the parts of the territory that are in line with the medium costs of 7-10.000 E. for hectare, only a change from actual land uses to viticulture, can bear the restoration of the traditional arrangements; in this case it's necessary to consider that this kind of land use changes is generally carried out just with the removal of the traditional works, at least with the typical characters and density of the métayage landscape, and, in the best way, with their substitution with a few big walls. As to the benefits we can get by the protection of the areas of historical landscape, they concern over all:· returns due to the image of the Chianti landscape for all the activities that benefit directly (turistic, cultural and leisure activities), or indirectly (commerce of the products) · returns due to the improvement of the agricultural production and to the maintenance of an active rural people. · Environmental safeguard and protection from the hydrogeologic risk. The removal of the dry-stone walls would signify that the actual time of "return" in which statistically a flood occurs in the area would pass from 2 to 5 years. Moreover, to obtain the same effect of stabilisation of the river-beds, it would occur to provide drainage works for about 2,6 millions E. Of course, due to the better hydrogeologic régime, less cases of expansion and other drainage disposals are required in the valleys.

The third fundamental question of the research concerns the ways of intervention in the residual areas of métayage landscape.The presented programme doesn't want to give constraints - neither this is in the power of the PTCP; probably an attempt to stop the transformations of the landscape with administrative ties is useless and can have opposite effects.The recovery of the Chianti historical landscape (not only of the areas, but also of the other parts of the territory) cannot be thought without an active participation of the interested people, the public administration, the agricultural enterprises, the rural population.The instruments to use are different and have to be co-ordinated. First of all it's necessary to have projects; then funds to distribute like incentive for the production and, in a lot of cases, directly to the restoration of the hydraulic agricultural arrangement; third it's necessary to have an agency to co-ordinate policies and projects and to facilitate the access of the enterprises to the funds.

The Chianti landscape programme, of course, must stop to the first point, it can offer addresses, standards, projects, estimates of the costs, to the Chianti community and to the Tuscany society, so that they can face with adequate knowledge the other two question.